The present invention relates to a rifle-type gun sight assembly for an archery bow having an adjustably illuminated pin sight and peep sight, both of which are mounted to a bracket, which can include a carriage slide.
Archers continually look for ways to more consistently hit the intended target. A conventional bow having an arched shape has an attaching section above a handle section. The attaching section has a right side that defines a first plane and an opposed left side that defines a second plane. A string and two cables are attached to the bow. A cable guard is sometimes connected to the right side of the attaching section of the bow, or to another section of the bow, and is used to deflect the cables to the right. A bracket for holding a sight pin is sometimes mounted to the attaching section of the bow.
Some archery bows utilize non-illuminated sight pins. One such design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,185 to Vanderheyden. Archers may find this type of design undesirable, because of substantial difficulties in seeing non-illuminated sight pins at dusk, which is a time when many hunters prefer to hunt. The Vanderheyden patent also discloses a bow sight assembly having a forward body portion and a rearward body portion The sight assembly is mounted to one side of the bow. The forward body portion has stationary sight pins. A movable rear peep is mounted to a sight arm. The sight arm is pivotally mounted to a main sight body. An archer adjusts the sight range of the bow by adjusting the location of the peep. The rear peep moves an undesirably large amount in relation to the remainder of the bow. Further, the rear peep is farther than necessary from the sight assembly. Also, the Vanderheyden design may interfere with the use of a stabilizer mounted to the attaching section of the bow.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,887 to Mason discloses an archery bow sight with two sight pins. A control means causes one of the sight pins to glow so as to be distinguishable from the other pin. A rheostat allows the intensity of the sights to be varied under different light conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,791 to Schafer shows an illuminated sighting structure. A chemiluminescent sphere mounted to a rod is at one end of a sighting tube. A chemiluminescent ring is at the other end of the sighting tube. As a modification, a fiber optic cable aids in the illumination of the chemiluminescent sphere and ring. The chemiluminescent ring and rod with a sphere mounted thereto are in a spaced relationship with a mounting plate. The mounting plate, in turn, is mounted to a bow body. However, the mounting plate is only shown mounted to the side of the bow body opposite of the side typically having holes predrilled therein. In the absence of predrilled holes, the archer must retrofit his or her bow in order to use the design shown in the Schafer patent. An outer chemiluminescent sighting ring is shown as an alternative embodiment. However, the rear ring is not vertically movable relative to the sphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,237 to Redburn et al. shows a fiber optic rod at the end of a relatively long and narrow tube. One strikingly undesirable feature of the Redburn design is that the archer can only view the target by looking around the outside of the tube. It can be difficult to aim in absence of a direct line of sight to the target, as the archer can be forced to guess where the target is. The mounting plate shown in the Redbum patent has no offset portion. Hence, the tube is further than necessary from the plate. As such, the structural rigidity of the tube is diminished. Further, portions of the bracket that extend rearwardly from the bow may interfere with the use of a cable guard.
Several other United States patents disclose sights of various shapes and sizes. Examples include: U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,150 to Colvin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,069 to Hamm et aL, U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,352 to Zykan et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,286 to Reed, Jr. et al. The designs in each of these patents are undesirably complicated.
Hence, a need exists for a design that solves these and other problems.
The present invention relates generally to a sight assembly with a bracket, a pin sight and a peep sight for use with a conventional archery bow.
A conventional archery bow has a top and a bottom with a handle section and an attaching section therebetween. The attaching section is above the handle section. The attaching section has a right side that defines a first plane and a left side that defines a second plane. Holes are typically predrilled into the right side of the attaching section. An arrow is usually projected from the left side of the attaching section of the bow. A string and two cables span between the bow""s top and bottom. A cable guard, which is often connected to the right side of the attaching section of the bow, deflects the cables.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a first preferred bracket embodiment is provided. The bracket has a connection plate with holes therethrough for mounting to the right side of the attaching section of the bow. Two legs are provided to offset a first and a second mounting plate, respectively, from the connection plate. The first and second mounting plates are preferably coplanar and generally lie in the second plane defined by attaching section of the bow. Each mounting plate has holes formed therethrough.
A pin sight is mounted to the first mounting plate. The end of a fiber optic cable illuminates the pin sight.
A peep sight is mounted to the second mounting plate. In carrying out my invention, ends of multiple fiber optic cables are positioned in a circular pattern around the peep sight. The ends of the fiber optic cables illuminate the peep sight.
A variable resistor with a switch is provided to adjust the brightness of the ends of the fiber optic cables in the pin sight and peep sight. In accordance with the present invention, a single variable resistor communicates with all the fiber optic cables simultaneously to vary their respective brightness. At dusk, when very little brightness is desired, or whenever the ambient lighting conditions warrant, the variable resistor allows the archer to tone down the brightness to an acceptable level so that the archer can still see the pin sight and peep sight, but the brightness is not overpowering. One preferred type of variable resistor is a rheostat.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a second bracket embodiment is provided. A connection plate with a curved channel therein is attached to the right side of the attaching section of the bow. The curvature of the connection plate channel has a radius that is approximately equal to the length of a human arm, or approximately 18 to 36 inches.
An aiming piece is provided comprising a carriage slide and a mounting beam. The carriage slide is curved to fit within the curved channel of the connection plate. A thumbwheel or the like is provided to selectably move the carriage slide up and down within the connection plate channel. The thumbwheel is manipulable both before and while the string is drawn. The mounting beam is on top of the carriage slide and has a forward end and a rearward end. The forward end comprises a first mounting plate and the rearward end comprises a second mounting plate. The mounting beam can be a bent beam, such that the forward and rearward ends of the mounting beam are offset from the remainder of the mounting beam. The forward and rearward ends preferably lie in the second plane defined by the attaching section of the bow. The pin sight is mounted to the mounting beam near its forward end, and the peep sight is mounted to the mounting beam near its rearward end. The variable resistor can be enclosed within the mounting beam or attached to the exterior of the mounting beam.
The forward and rearward ends of the mounting beam simultaneously move up and down in a predetermined ratio in response to the archer manipulating the thumbwheel. Hence, the pin sight and peep sight also simultaneously move up and down in a predetermined ratio. The pin sight preferably moves up 1 inch for every corresponding xc2xe inch of movement of the peep sight, given a 7 inch spacing center to center between the pin sight and peep sight. The archer""s shoulder is approximately at the center of the rotation of arcuate movement of the pin sight and peep sight.
The bow is aimed by aligning the archer""s eye with the peep sight, the pin sight, and the target in a direct line of sight. In this regard, the archer maintains a clear view of the target and of the surroundings. The risk that the archer would fail to see a potential hazard is therefore minimized.
Other advantages, benefits, and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed description of the invention and studying the drawings.